Three is one and half

Facebook these days plays a vital role in word of mouth for a movie. Usually, I have a habit of not to see any teaser or trailer of any hyped movies before I watch the movie. But I am sure there cannot be a person who has not watched or listened to the song 'Why this Kolaveri di' from the movie 'Three'. I am no exception either but there was a hard hitting factor in the movie called Aishwarya Dhanush, who kept reminding me that it's her movie and have the expectation set properly prior watching the movie. So, the reviews for the movie as I saw them in many wall posts, carried negative reviews but parallel to it there were a bunch of people, who did a voice over or rather forced reviews on behalf of others, saying 'The movie is not bad as others say, but definitely it will not be liked by others but it glued me', 'What a stunning performance by Dhanush', etc., I personally did not carry these reviews when I watched the movie where I have to force my friends to accompany me.


The strange, keep guessing title, THREE, didn't even alarm me what to guess about the tile even after watching the movie. Read some news or others view on the title depicting the three icons of Tamil Cinema industry, namely, Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan and Kasthoori Raja. Oh yes, the last name is Kasthoori Raja. Forget about the title, it won't allow you to draw any comparison to the movie either. If someone says, it depicts three phases of one's life; I must ask the person to name the three phases. So, let's not worry about the title unless it's renamed as 3 Idiots, it doesn't make any sense to me.

Before I start, tearing the movie, I wanted to alert the readers, there will definitely be some spoiler alert in my review, so, if you desperately wanted to watch the movie, better go to the verdict and decide or continue reading. To keep the story in two liner, the movie is about a guy called Ram (Dhanush), who suffers from a weird disease called Bipolar disorder and the tale is been explained as a narrative flashback throughout the movie. And there are three important characters in the movie namely Ram, Janani (Shruthi) and Senthil, so another comparison for the title is on the list.

 

To start with, some or rather only positive aspects of the movie which I felt were good and nicely directed will definitely be the first half of the movie which depicts the school life of the lead pair. Dhanush, we don't have to mould him for a school boy character. All he needs to do is just clean shave and a good boy smile. Wear him with any school uniform on top of this shade, he will definitely make the unknowns think he is a real life school going boy. He can even go a step lesser classes if the script demands. Throughout these school-life is interestingly crafted to perfection. The school boy who wants to go in bike instead of car, showing heroism to help a figure who is struggling in the rain to repair the cycle chain, the typical +2 tuition class, a friend who is jealous on scoring higher marks even when you fail, students considering 'Kattipudi Kattipudi da' song as a big thing. These interesting scenes will definitely give you the past life experiences. To make it look more interesting and humor driven, Sivakarthiyen as Kumaran, comes as usual with his usual witty dialogues. A typical hero's friend role has been aptly casted. But on the other hand, Shruthi, though she could make the audience believe that she is a school going girl, her dialogue delivery is a sin for her. I shall discuss in detail in the later part of my review. So these are the only positive feel good aspects of the movie according to me.

 

The transition from a lover boy in the school days to college which is told to us in only one scene and then to a married man is where the movie completely failed and took a pathetic direction. When the movie starts to unfold to find a reason for the death of Dhanush, it becomes practically hard to digest. A person has got Bipolar disorder and how he has handled it and struggled in his life depicts the latter half of the movie. But the reason for the disease is so sick and it's forced just to showcase an actor's caliber. This is where, the character Senthil, starts to reveal the other side of Dhanush. And we were alarmed on how the transition will be with a pathetic picturisation of one of the biggest chartbuster song 'Why this Kolaveri di'. Dhanush, yes he has done justification for the character in the latter half of the movie, but if the reason for being like that becomes vague or ordinary, no matter whatever the performance you put, it will all go in vain.

Whatever that is done very well in the first half has been crafted exactly opposite in the second half. It has started becoming so hard to find patience to sit through the movie when the frame moves on. There are various contributors to the second half which can easily make one leave the theatre or close your VLC player.

 

1. Shruthi Hassan - OK, I have to repeat the same what I said in my review for 7aum arivu. Agreed that you are trying to be odd man out amongst the Tamil cinema heroines by dubbing yourselves, but think! Imagine what happened to a movie called 'Vigneshwar' when Kushbu attempted to dub for her. Imagine what happened to Devayani when she attempted to dub for her in 'Vinnukkum Mannukkum'. Please, for Kamal sake! It's not about the voice; it's about the clarity in speech and the fluency in Tamil. There are awesome dubbing artists in Tamil cinema industry and don't ruin them by ruining us.
2. Aishwarya Dhanush - Firstly, this is a debut movie! You can do wonders with having a nice first half and it could have been taken with some other subject being dealt instead of this weird portrayal. What are you trying here? Do you want to showcase your husband's talent in acting? Madam, he has already done a lot with such similar character. And the rib tickling part of the movie is the climax message stating suicide is not the solution for blah blah...come on!
3. Predictable, repeatitive, irritating dialogues - 'Machi hospital-a admit aagidalaam da', 'appa naan unga kitta pesanam, life matter pa'. The occurances of these two dialogues in the latter half of the movie can be even predicted by your child if they have managed to sit through the movie.

 

Anirudh's music is pretty good for a debutant and the BGM is sort of OK at places but becomes monotonous at times. His songs were very nicely wasted by the director but enough fame he had by releasing the single number prior releasing the movie. I don't want to touch other technical aspects of the movie because; they don't find any special attention here.

 

Verdict - Shruthi Hassan, Aishwarya Dhanush and Bipolar disorder, these THREE ruined 3.

 

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Nanban - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

It is not the first time we had such remakes or rather as others say a successful or a faithful remake. Can't understand what is a faithful remake?? Well, basically there are two things here when it comes to remake. A very popular wholesome entertainer remake like Bommarilu, Pokkiri and a class movie remake just like A wednesday. It's quite obvious here that Shankar preferred the first which is quite a safe bet but a risky one as well because we all know what happened to Sholay. But to put it simple, what Shankar has done is what Raja had done in the past. I am not degrading Shankar here but the considering the films that he has done in the past, he is certainly capable of more than this copy paste thing. But in the end of the day, it's the quality of the final product matters to the audience. In that aspect, Shankar really had cherished.

The Original production '3 Idiots'. Well, first and foremost, 3 Idiots is not an EPIC movie. I would rather say this is an overrated movie. But that doesn't stop the entertainment the movie gave to us. It's a full fledged wholesome entertainer which as Shankar said in the audio release function, will entertain you for the whole 3 hours nonstop. It's quite hard to find out the boring scenes in 3 Idiots which will leave the director who is going to remake the movie unclear on whether or not to cut/remove any portion from the original product. It is also a good gesture that Shankar in the audio release function clearly given full credit to the original script writer of the movie and the outcome of Nanban should be credited to him and not him.

The Blondie

The actor Vijay. Probably the first time, I am using the term ACTOR adjacent to Vijay. With the stereo typed roles that Vijay was doing in the past and the mass that the actor carried from all his previous movies, I guess there isn't a single movie which has done without action sequences. It is indeed an appreciable fact that the actor leaving his mass fan following and gave his full liberal to the director for the movie. I hope this continues in his usual movies as well. The comparison is something you cannot stop and that too for a movie like 3 Idiots which I guess many would have seen. On that note, has Vijay given justice to Aamir? Hmmmm, I would say partially yes. Why partial? I can come in detail on the TUCO part in my review.

The director has not changed anything from the original production. Which is good as well as bad. Good for the people who have seen 3 Idiots (once or twice) will be satisfied that it is a genuine remake. It is very good for the people who haven't watched 3 Idiots and they will be satisfied to the core.

Jiiva, probably the one person, who has tried to be original instead of 'dittoing' his character from 3 Idiots. At nowhere in the movie, with his screen presence, he has given a slightest feel of Sharman Joshi. I would say he is the best cast in the character for Nanban without any doubt.

The Tuco

You enroll all good actors who are capable of doing more or rather have their own style brand. And when you ask them to succumb it becomes artificial to an extent. That's what happened to Vijay, Sathyan and even Sathyaraj. Before watching the movie, I was seeing reviews and comments that these three actors have given their best exceeding the expectations. But, honestly what I felt was they were asked to imitate from their respective characters in 3 Idiots. But I am not trying to say that they didn't do well, but they looked artificial in many scenes. Sathyaraj was pick of the lot where the way he tried to stress 'S' as 'issss' trying to imitate Boman Irani. Initially when he was introduce with the lecture lesson at the hostel, it sounded interesting but when it was moving along, it started a bit annoying. Same goes with Sathyan. His talents are left unused by many directors. This guy is actually capable giving stunning performances. He has done really well in this movie but just because the script is being ripped even he too had to render the same as his character counterpart in 3 Idiots. Had he given his standard way, I felt it would have been livelier and even more entertaining.

Vijay on the other hand, had tried to imitate Aamir Khan but didn't work as expected. We all know the character of Aamir and we all know the capability of Vijay especially in such character. He has given his best in Kushi which is more or less similar character. I am not trying to call the roles enacted by these actors are bad but I am trying to say that the movie would have been even more brisk and entertaining or rather a new look if they were asked to play their natural game.

The Angel Eyes

First character to spoil the sport is Ileana. PERIOD. The runner up is Srikanth. I wonder what made Shankar to pick this guy who is pretty important in the movie because he is the narrator. Basically, he lags in expression and he has got more screen presence where he has to express when he talks to his parents and in the climax. The way Maddy brought the feel is completely missing in Srikanth.

And comes the Legend 'Harris'. Be it his background score or his songs, at nowhere in the movie it synchronizes with the movie. Two of his songs were saved because of the picturization which are 'Asku Asku' and 'Heartiley Battery'.

Verdict

A neat remake of 3 Idiots. If you have not seen 3 Idiots, this movie is a perfect entertainer. If you have seen 3 Idiots (once), this movie is a good entertainer. If you have seen 3 Idiots many times, better to SKIP.